Cleanse Your Palate With Hot Water

Many people ask me what is the best way to cleanse your palate. The answer is: hot water.

Keep in mind, you don’t need to do this every time you enjoy fine chocolate. This is up to you. We need to learn to enjoy and discern foods not in isolation, but with the interference (good or bad) of other foods. If you are trying to learn and analyze your chocolate deeply, then yes, cleansing your palate can be good idea.

Many people have all sorts of suggestions for cleansing your palate, but the truth is, hot water is ideal. Chocolate unlike coffee or wine is a thick fat-based food. The only thing that lifts and carries away the chocolate/fat from your tongue and mouth is hot water.

Not only does the hot water lift and wash the chocolate (and much of the aromas) away, it also keeps the mouth warm.

Many people who use cool or cold water or palate cleansing drinks/foods actually inhibit the pleasure of their next bite of chocolate. If your mouth or tongue is chilled even a little after drinking some water, it will inhibit the melt of the chocolate. It will alter the nice texture of the chocolate to come through. It may even make the chocolate feel more waxy until your mouth warms up.

A cool mouth will also inhibit how much flavour/aroma you can extract from the chocolate. Unlike alcohol or hot espresso which evaporates easily and lifts the aromas within it, chocolate doesn’t work this way. It requires some help to lift it, and melting it in a warm mouth will do the job.

You can sip it, swish it, and move it around in your mouth. You may find other palate cleansers work for you (crackers, apple, polenta) but keep in mind that these foods will also add interference to your chocolate. If your chocolate has delicate notes of grain, or cracker/toast, then eating such a food beforehand can easily mute those notes. If you eat something such as an apple which can be sweet and tart (and often served cool not warm - remember the melt) then if your chocolate contains fruity notes those notes may be muted. Having some fruit before it will make the fruity notes within it seem less sweet/tart/fruity, and heighten the non-fruity notes. This may not be a bad thing, but something to keep in mind.

When in doubt, hot water is best!